By Sharon Ugolini
Well-known prosecuting attorney Kenneth Starr said Wednesday Microsoft has overstepped their bounds.
Starr spoke at a live public radio forum at the University of Utah Hinckley Institute of Politics hosted by KUER FM 90. In addition to other topics, he addressed the current Utah”s anti-trust lawsuit against Microsoft.
“Microsoft has just gone too far by abusing the monopoly power,” Starr said.
Starr has been hired as outside council by an independent trade association that has been injured by Microsoft.
He said the team of attorneys is not trying to stop Microsoft from producing computer programs, but the team is trying to prevent Microsoft from taking the possibility away from others.
“Our proposal addresses Microsoft”s problems and allows other companies to compete. It will not limit Microsoft”s ability to innovate or sell products on the same terms as other companies,” said Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff.
The state of Utah is one of nine states prosecuting Microsoft.
Assistant Attorney General Wayne Klein, who is prosecuting the case for the state of Utah, said Utah is actively pursuing Microsoft because the Utah constitution has an anti-trust act and the state feels it needs to enforce the law.
“My legal analysis was that the legal settlement agreement entered by the Department of Justice and the other states did not do that, and I had to stand the case,” Shurtleff said.
The Utah Attorney General”s Office has presented remedies to the federal court in Washington D.C.
The law states that if the courts find unlawful conduct, it is up to the Attorney Generals of the suing states to make sure that the remedies stop the unlawful conduct and restore competition, he said.
“I don”t believe in bringing in a lot of government action against private companies,” Shurtleff said. “But the constitution of Utah and the Sherman anti-trust and Clayton Act make it clear they can”t break the law.”
The federal anti-trust law permits the states to enforce the laws independently.
“Utah has the same goal as the feds to keep a free market alive,” Klein said.
Starr said to trust the heart of the anti-trust laws to open up the PC desktop to a greater market.
“The final goal is to restore competition,” he said.
